The present invention relates to line dispensers, and in particular, to dispensers for dispensing plural leader lines.
In sport fishing, it is common to connect the bait or lure to the free end of the fishing line by a short length of leader. This leader is generally a monofilament which is supplied in a variety of thicknesses, generally ranging from 0.001 mm (1 lb. test) to 0.02 mm. (70 lb. test).
Oftentimes a sport fisherman will find it desirable to carry with him leaders of several different thicknesses. Preferably such leaders can be held in and dispensed from a single, compact dispenser. The present invention is designed to meet this need and provides the following advantages over prior art leader dispensers:
The dispenser is compact, capable of holding six leader spools in a pocket-sized case.
The leader line is dispensed from both sides of the dispenser case, minimizing tangling problems and making leader selection easier.
Each spool is held in frictional engagement within the dispenser, ensuring that the spools are unwound only when the leader is forcibly pulled from the dispenser.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a leader dispenser designed for dispensing leader from a plurality of wound spools.
More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a leader dispenser in which leader spools are arranged in two tiers, allowing the leader to be dispensed from opposite sides of the dispenser.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide such a leader dispenser in which the two tiers of spools are not separately partitioned from one another, thus simplifying dispenser construction and facilitating dispenser loading.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a leader dispenser which is simple and inexpensive in manufacture.
To this end, the present invention comprises separable top and bottom housing sections which form a dispenser enclosure. Each housing section is adapted to support three leader spools rotatably therein, these spools being mounted on posts symmetrically positioned within the housing sections. The mounting posts are dimensioned to frictionally engage the spools, preventing the spools from freely unwinding. The spools in the two housing sections form top and bottom tiers of spools with end faces of spools in the top tier facing end faces of the spools in the bottom tier. The free line end from each spool is fed through an associated opening in the dispenser case, providing access to the lines. A cutting tab adjacent each such opening is used both for securing the free end of the associated leader line and for cutting such leader line.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will now be more fully described with reference to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention and the accompanying drawings.